my crafty adventures

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About me

Welcome to my blog! My name is Jessica, and I'm a music professor from Kentucky. This blog details my journey into DIY style. I love to sew and knit my own clothes, and I'm a dedicated thrift store shopper! I also love fashion, so I'm attempting to marry my interests without causing myself to go bankrupt. I love bright colors, full skirts, and vintage styles. I love to answer questions, and I can be reached by email at jmills01@gmail.com.

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Holiday is over!

I’m glad that Thanksgiving is over, and things can go back to normal (well, normal for the two weeks until my Christmas Music activities start up in earnest!) I do enjoy holidays, but I’m not really at my best around lots of people – my family is very small, and we always had small holidays. I tend to just be very quiet. We decided to order a television that was on sale on Target.com rather than brave the early morning crowds Friday (well, Marc would have – I just cannot handle the insanity!) I’m happy because our TV is about to die, and then what would I watch while I knit stockinette?

Speaking of stockinette….

That’s the sleeve of Emily. Yes, that’s right… a sleeve. It’s decreased as small as it gets, and I’m really nervous about how large it is. I know the sleeves are supposed to be blousy, so I hope it’s ok – I think I’m about the same size as the model, and it looks fine on her. It is taking forever, partly because it is just so boring, but I know it will be worth it in the end – I just have to buckle down and finish!

I didn’t take Emily with me to Cincy, because we needed a little distance. Instead, I took my Thanksgiving socks, to ensure they would get worked on during the holiday!

I’m very proud of my first Eye of Partridge heel. I love the way the slip stitches look, and it’s nice and thick. From this point on I’m not really following the pattern, since my numbers are different. It’s all stockinette to the toe, so it should go quickly. I’m feeling much better about the merino/tencel yarn, which has a nice shine and really good stitch definition.

Yesterday we did do a bit of shopping – we visited a really excellent Goodwill, where all the clothes were 50% off (I bought lots!) and we also bought a brand new espresso maker for cheap. We went to Big Lots and the Dollar Store looking for little stocking stuffers (my Mom loves her stockings!) and… we did make it to Knit On in Bellevue. Marc’s parents live on the Kentucky side of the river in Cincinnati, and I find the way there are so many little towns clustered together interesting. Bellevue is an interesting town with a nice little main street. Plus the knitting store has a yarn store cat, which I feel is always a plus. I thought about yarn for the Colette Pullover, as I find myself obsessed with the kitty cats, despite my lack of color work ability, but I didn’t really see anything I liked for it. Hopefully next week in Indy I will have better luck! I love Reynolds Whiskey, so I will probably choose that, but I may change the colors.
I ended up buying Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Damson (mine is a newer skein, and I think it has more yardage than the old ones?) and some Naturespun sport for the Gathered Pullover from the current IK, which has grown on me I think. I don’t know any place that carries “Top of the lamb” so this is close enough. The sweater is knit at a loose gauge for sportweight, which I think is important, and most of what I like about the sweater, so I was sure to buy sportweight yarn for it, although DK would have made gauge easier.

In real life the naturespun is a super bright teal, more green than blue. And yes, I know, I said no more teal… but I cannot resist! The bright colors call to me! Besides, I sold most of my teal yarn in the last destash. I also bought a book, Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, since I have fallen so deeply in love with her sock patterns. I looked through More Sensational Knitted socks, but I’m not really into it… I have the first book, and it’s nice, but I don’t really use it.

The preview is up for the new Interweave Crochet. I’m really just not sure what I think of it. I think for me Crochet is a summer craft, and so the winter issues don’t do it for me unless they are heavy on the accessories. I do like the two hats in this issue.

But then, I don’t wear hats, so I don’t know. Ah well… perhaps it will grow on me!

I love the color of your socks…nice! I just ordered some Top of the Lamb in a charcoal grey for the Gathered Pullover from Paradise Fibers. I received an email, however, saying that it is back ordered and they would email me as soon as they got some. Hopefully it won’t be too long!

Emily is looking good, if large. But it does seem to match the picture, so I wouldn’t worry too much. I keep hoping the Kim Hargreaves book will appear on Amazon–I just can’t bring myself to brave the current exchange rate and order it from the UK.

Oh, you missed out on all the fun. I’m not big with crowds either, but I just love to go shopping on Black Friday. The trick is to start early (5am). This way you get home by approx 11am and miss the really huge crowds.
PS. Your socks are looking great!